Camila Giorgi of Italy will face Swedish qualifier Rebecca Peterson in the final of the Merida Open on Sunday.
Ranked No.68, the 31-year-old Italian defeated No.4 seed Katerina Siniakova 7-5, 7-6(2) in the semifinals to advance to her 10th career final and first since winning Montreal in 2021.
Giorgi has had a successful week in Merida. She has won all four of her matches without dropping a set, including the quarterfinal match against No. 2 seed Sloane Stephens, which she defeated 6-0, 6-0. Giorgi's victory marked her maiden career double-bagel triumph.
Giorgi stunned Siniakova on Saturday night with her assured power game and clutch play, rallying from 4-2 down in the first set to win it 7-5. She defeated the current No. 1 in doubles to take a 7-5, 5-2 lead, but Siniakova forced a tiebreak by taking advantage of a drop in the Italian's performance. After 2 hours and 11 minutes, Giorgi reacted by playing a calm and composed tiebreak to break the Czech's momentum and secure the victory.
Giorgi outperformed Siniakova, who had 17 victories to 33 unforced mistakes, by winning the match with 25 to 23. She now leads Siniakova 3-1 in their head-to-head matchups after winning their last three meetings.
After overcoming a 4-0 deficit to defeat Caty McNally in the final set, Peterson won 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-4 to become the fourth qualifier to reach a WTA Tour final this year. The 27-year-old hopes to add a third title to her collection on Sunday and become the second qualifier (after Lauren Davis of Hobart) to win a championship this year.
After dominating from the baseline in the first set, Peterson was forced to fight for every point in the third set after McNally insisted on a tiebreaker. With her deft all-court play, McNally established a 4-0 lead and appeared to be securing a spot in her maiden WTA final.
Peterson, though, made a timely discovery of the power move that gave her the opening set. After 2 hours and 47 minutes, Peterson came back to win the final six games of the match by hammering her forehand from the baseline.
In 2019, Peterson attained a career-high ranking of No. 43, winning two tournaments that year. The Swedish player, whose season was disrupted by injury last year, has had a strong week in Merida, where she has defeated top seed and Australian Open semifinalist Magda Linette as well as Lyon winner Alycia Parks.
Being the winner of both completed matches, Giorgi has the advantage over Peterson in head-to-head competition. In their most recent encounter at 2020 Palermo, Giorgi prevailed 7-5, 6-4. The Italian would win her fourth championship in a row with a victory on Sunday.
( With inputs from ANI )
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